Vic, on Vincent twins the dynamo runs at 1.25 time the engine speed. With the poly-vee belt ratio those twins run the Walkernator at twice engine speed on 'B' and 'C' twins, slightly faster than that on 'D' twins and less than that on Comets. With the earlier 30 amp alternators the load of 130 watt headlamp bulb, fore and aft 21 watt indicator bulbs, 6 watt rear light and 21 watt brake light are all balanced at 2,000 engine rpm on my twin. At tick over, about 1,000 rpm on my bike, that load is almost balanced. On Dick Sherwin's twin a lower powered head lamp bulb, all the other lights and heated clothing are also balanced at about the same revs. Basically, one never sees a negative amperage. At one stage, and just for test purposes, Dick ran three 60 watt headlamps plus rear lights etc, all with no negative amps showing. It really does not matter to me whether anyone likes the appearance or not. Over 80 of these kits have been sold to UK riders, nearly all of them long distance riders who have covered several tens of thousands of miles with the kit. If you want to ride in winter, have a pillion passenger who would like to have heated clothing or a sidecar with extra lights and a passenger in that who would like to have heated clothing then, as far as I know, there is nothing else available for our bikes which will provide the current required.
Misc: Charging Systems Series ‘C’ Rapide Battery Not Charging
- Thread starter danno
- Start date
Yes, agree with this. These bikes were made for touring and my Rap did a fair bit on the continent in the 60’s both solo and with a Steib sidecar fitted.
Bringing the electrics up to date is a must if using the bike like this.
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I think the walkernator on a Comet closes up the hole left by the lost rear cylinder after all isnt there a rule about if you can spit through a bike it aint well designed?
I agree about the standard valve lifter arrangement on a new bike my first job is to add a second plug hole and fit a decompressor. As for not using a decompressor with an electric start why, wouldn't you? its just good practice especially with a mechanism as delicate as the Vincent one. At the Triumph factory visit I was entranced by the system devised there. A ball bearing rises up in the center of the cam to raise the valve and decompress on starting.as the revs rise a centrifugal weight pulls a (wedge?) in the cam spindle back from under the ball and the decompression cam profile dissapears
I agree about the standard valve lifter arrangement on a new bike my first job is to add a second plug hole and fit a decompressor. As for not using a decompressor with an electric start why, wouldn't you? its just good practice especially with a mechanism as delicate as the Vincent one
. At the Triumph factory visit I was entranced by the system devised there. A ball bearing rises up in the center of the cam to raise the valve and decompress on starting.as the revs rise a centrifugal weight pulls a (wedge?) in the cam spindle back from under the ball and the decompression cam profile dissapearsBTH didn’t receive my original message for some reason but have replied quickly
to email.
Quote sorted so will get the Alton from there.
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I think that quite a few engines now have an automatic decompressor for starting even though they have an electric start. The Yamaha MT07 I have has something similar to decompress for starting. If you think about it at the design stage it is probably fairly simple (for an engineer) to incorporate an automatic decompressor. It will add little to no weight to the machine but now the designer can use a smaller, lighter, cheaper starter motor. The same applies to the battery and probably the charging system as well.I think the walkernator on a Comet closes up the hole left by the lost rear cylinder after all isnt there a rule about if you can spit through a bike it aint well designed?
...... As for not using a decompressor with an electric start why, wouldn't you? its just good practice especially with a mechanism as delicate as the Vincent one
TouringGodet
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Jay Leno is of the opposite opinion, he doesn’t care for bikes he can’t spit (or see, in Jay’s words) through. He actually used that phrase in one of his videos of a Vincent.
i have a slightly off topic question here...can somebody tell me which way the actual starter motor itself (grosset) turns when viewed from the timing side of the bike. this info will save me an awful lot of time and messing about.
thanks
Mark
Hi
Just about to fit the new Alton to the Rapide. Just wondering if it’s a fairly straightforward swap.
The instructions say use cradle ET221, clamp ET176/2 with G72, nuts and washes.
These would already be on the bike I assume as there’s nothing provided with the unit.
Thanks
Just about to fit the new Alton to the Rapide. Just wondering if it’s a fairly straightforward swap.
The instructions say use cradle ET221, clamp ET176/2 with G72, nuts and washes.
These would already be on the bike I assume as there’s nothing provided with the unit.
Thanks
Hi Danno,
They are the components that the standard dynamo is fitted with, Alton goes on as per dynamo.
Should add I'm a Walkernator convert so haven't fitted an Alton myself.
Cheers
Dave
Thanks.